Sylvia Houle is an emerging Anishinaabe contemporary artist residing in Rolette, North Dakota. She is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. Born and raised far away from her indigenous roots along the Northern California Coastline, she didn’t have the benefit of the traditional teachings of her father’s people and would often feel out of place but did not understand why until many years later.

Sylvia’s work represents a visual map of various things that flow through her mind, influenced by colors, nature, people, thoughts, emotions, and cultural teachings; all these things she processes through different art mediums, mainly soft pastels. A couple of her main themes she likes to explore are reconnecting to her Anishinaabe heritage and portraiture. The artist herself explains, “I want to share my knowledge and experiences with others in my version of visual storytelling; to give folks encouragement to engage in their creative evolution, conduct soul searching for themselves, and never stop seeking knowledge.”

Even though Sylvia has been creating most of her life, she didn’t start taking her art more seriously until not long after she arrived in North Dakota in 2017. Eventually, Sylvia would like to continue her college education to become an Art Therapist and a Professional Artist.

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